


The Worst Thing

by luluwithan_u



Series: D20 One-Shots [2]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luluwithan_u/pseuds/luluwithan_u
Summary: (CoC Ep 9 SPOILERS!!!)Ruby processes the worst thing that could possibly happen to her.
Series: D20 One-Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786114
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	The Worst Thing

The first time we swung swords by ourselves. I remember it like it was yesterday.

We’d snuck into the battlements before, but, of course, we had been duly caught. Even though we were small, I can’t say we were as quick as we would become. We tore through the barracks, and they would always manage to find us and send us back to the castle, where we would get our ears screamed off - but not our souls. Our spirits were linked, as were our fingers. Nothing could ever break that.

That day, there was no elaborate planning. Instead of setting up small boobytraps all around camp, or carefully studying the guards’ turns, we simply went in. It was your idea too! I was in our room, pretending to be a good student while secretly practicing to be a - what was it that time? A pirate? Perhaps a bard? Doesn’t matter, anyway, because you came in with a devious little smile on your face, and of course I soon mirrored it. We went out the window - you were talking me into being a thief instead of my other options -, and climbed over the rooftops all around the castle to get to the battlements. The wind was strong against our cheeks. We both almost fell over multiple times, but what could the wind do to us? We were the Rocks sisters, the princesses! We had each other. I believed we could do absolutely anything, Jet.

Anyway. The battlements. It wasn’t a particularly good time to sneak into them. The guards were all on duty, being trained, so there were a lot of people around and a lot going on, too. Theo paraded them around - for what, we never knew -, and, honestly, for a nine year old girl, it was a little bit scary. You weren’t scared, though, so I wouldn’t be either. We’ll use their noise for cover, you said. This way Theo won’t hear us giggle! And he didn’t. We were like ghosts though the empty barracks, until we finally reached the armory. And there they were, shining in broad daylight: lances, bows, shields and swords. More than we could count! It was Elysium.

We were going for the big swords, but, then, at the same time, we thought not to. Bad idea - lets start with the training ones. They were still steel! It’s always been normal for us to have the same idea, we are twins, Bulb’s sake, but I wonder how other people might have thought of it. We were attuned, Jet. No magic jewelry or weaponry, just the two of us.

Oh. I see what I’ve done. I probably shouldn’t say Bulb anymore, it feels very… Ungrateful. To Lapin, to Preston, to you. But honestly, Jet, I don’t know what I should believe in anymore. It’s so very hard. I think that, when we were together, I could believe in you, and in us, and I was right to - we were a force, and you knew it. Even when I doubted it, you always reminded me. You were my rock, Jet, and I know you would like to hear it because you loved puns. Maybe you still do.

Anyway. Again. I don’t even know if I’m in the mood for the story anymore, but I’ll sum it up. I owe you that much.

We used the training swords for about three minutes before giving up and moving on to real swords. It was so very hard to lift them, but, together, we managed to get one of the ground, and play around individually. We were only discovered because, eventually, I hit some armor on the wall, and the clanging was loud enough for heads and eyes to turn to us. When they called Theo, I think he was honestly kind of impressed (this was, of course, before he had grown exhausted of our shenanigans: he was only tired back then), but he still had to turn us in to our parents, and we were so ready to have mom scold us until our licorice skin wanted to freeze and hide but the sucrose in our bloods soared. Mom, however, found it a little funny, mostly because we didn’t have as many responsibilities back then and she had no idea how much we could and would neglect them eventually, and Dad couldn’t be mad at us if he tried. It was that day, he told us later, that he got the idea to give us the Lockets of the Sweetest Hearts, when he realized how much we were meant to do together.

Dad. Oh, Jet, Dad. He gets so mad at so many different things, and the smallest part of me wonders, will he be mad at me? 

Am I going to get what’s coming for me for being a coward?

Now, Jet, I know what you would say. I’m half your heart. I know you would have been happy about saving me, and I shall make sure they will sing a thousand songs in your honor for that one day, but that is not nearly enough. I know you’ll say I wasn’t cowardly, I was resourceful or something. I don’t know. You were the better one with words. 

Maybe you were the better one at everything. You made me proud every single day, Jet. I got out of and into bed thinking about how proud I was to be the twin sister of the next sovereign ruler of Candy, the heiress to House Rocks. Being your sister was the greatest honor I could have been given, and more than I could ever ask for. It made me happy and whole, no matter how the world was crumbling around me. That was all you, Jet. You were half my heart.

It’s not enough that I’ll sing praise to you one day. It’s not enough that I will find these traitors and present them to their fate, it’s not enough that I”ll study so damn hard that I’ll be a challenge to even aunt Lazuli. None of it is enough. There is one thing I could have done that would have been enough, Jet, and that would have been saving you. I would have gone a different way and, hell, I would have gone your way, done it for you, let The Hungry One have me instead. I just want you back, Jet.

I don’t know how I’ll tell them. I hope they already know, but then, I don’t think I do. There are screams coming from the castle, and I think something truly horrible is underway, but the two worst things in all the realm have already happened to me today. One is father knowing you’ve gone - it's a sinking, paralyzing feeling, yet I have never held any stronger certainty -, and the second is your death being in my hands.

I have no hopes for me, Jet, because all I do from now on will be for you. Taking our home back, saving our loved ones, keeping our sweet magic alive, revenging and celebrating you - it will all be in your stead and for your sake. My one hope is also for you, and it is hoping you’ve found joy. I hope you have Preston to remind you of Liam and I, and Lapin to bother, and Aunt Rococoa to teach you all we’ve ever wanted to know, and our other aunts to tell you about father when he was truly his happiest. I hope you’re in a better place, Jet, and I hope you have me there with you, holding tight onto your side of the locket. At this point, I might as well forge mine in. I am never taking it off. 

I'd like to find solace in your happiness. I'd like to find solace in making your life count, in making you proud. Excuse me if I don't. Maybe one day you'll prove me wrong, and maybe one day I won't feel like my own feet are dragging me into the very ground as I run, but you were usually the one to pull me out. I wouldn't know where to start.

What I would do is apologize, but you wouldn’t like that, Jet. Instead, I’ll live with the guilt. The person I loved the most in this entire world is gone now, and I was the one who could have stopped it. It seems painfully appropriate.


End file.
